


A Little Screw Loose

by burymeinziam



Series: A Little Screw Loose [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-05
Updated: 2013-03-05
Packaged: 2017-12-04 08:44:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/708798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/burymeinziam/pseuds/burymeinziam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The majority of the population says that he’s crazy – that Zayn was born with a screw loose.  And Liam can’t really say he disagrees with them because they’re right, Zayn does have his moments. But there are also times when he’s like this: when Zayn’s skin is warm from sleep and there’s a pillow crease along his jaw and his fingers are digging into the collar of Liam’s shirt while he hums and laughs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Little Screw Loose

Zayn talks of how his dreams always consist of him dying in these beautifully tragic ways. Like his heart literally breaking and splitting into two while his fingers are tangling into blindingly white sheets as silent screams tear through his throat.

Or, sometimes, he’s in the desert with his toes buried beneath warm sand and the sun is beating down against his skin and his arms are spread wide and there are tears streaming down his face like he’s the next Jesus Christ or something and he just sort of _melts_ into nothing.

When he wakes up his thoughts are always broken ( _“they’re scrambled,” he says. “Like a kaleidoscope.”)_ and Liam is there, pressing the pads of his fingers along his cheek bones, tracing the hard lines of Zayn’s jaw, and dragging him back to reality because that’s all he can really do.

He’s kissing Zayn’s lips and whispering things like “Hey, now, it’s alright. It’s just a dream and it’s over.” Liam’s cupping Zayn’s face and smearing away tears with his thumbs saying “Shh, nothing’s broken; you’re not broken. You’re fine.”

He says it like it’s the truth and when Zayn looks at him, Liam knows that he believes it. And even though Liam knows he’s lying through his teeth he says a silent prayer that one day he won’t be.

Zayn melts into Liam (he thinks of the sand and the sun and Zayn disappearing into the earth) and links their fingers together and Liam can’t get over how well they fit; how easily Zayn’s body molds against his own and Liam knows that its fate.

“Sorry,” Zayn mumbles and his lips are wet against the skin of Liam’s neck. He presses a kiss to Liam’s collarbone before leaning back so he can get a better look at Liam’s face. “You know I… I get kind of… out there.” And there’s a dismissive wave of Zayn’s hand and a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

Liam only nods, kisses his forehead and moves the hair out of his face before telling him that it’s fine. Zayn wraps his arms around Liam’s neck and pulls him in for a kiss – a real one this time where their mouths are slightly open and their tongues are dancing and Zayn is groaning in the back of his throat as he tosses his leg over Liam’s hip.

The majority of the population says that he’s crazy – that Zayn was born with a screw loose. They stare while Zayn mumbles to himself and tell their children not to go near that man because he keeps glancing over his shoulder and digging his hands into his pockets. And Liam can’t really say he disagrees with them because they’re right, Zayn does have his moments. But there are also times when he’s like this: when Zayn’s skin is warm from sleep and there’s a pillow crease along his jaw and his fingers are digging into the collar of Liam’s shirt while he hums and laughs.

( _“Today is going to be a good day”)._

There are moments when Zayn’s lips are tickling Liam’s because they’re not really kissing so much as they are touching and breathing the other in, committing the little odds and ends of each other to memory. Moments when Zayn’s skin is warm and smooth like porcelain beneath Liam’s fingertips.

Liam grins when Zayn’s fingernails dig into his lower back forcing his eyes open to catch a glimpse of him smiling back as he says “Hey” with his inky black hair spread against the white of the pillowcase, small, purple bags beneath his eyes and _God,_ Liam thinks, _isn’t he beautiful._

Liam brushes the hair from Zayn’s face. Says, “Hi” before leaning down and kissing the corner of Zayn’s mouth. “Need your medicine?”

Liam can feel Zayn’s exhale against his skin. “No, no,” he says in a rush and scrambles to reach Liam’s forearm when he starts to climb off of the bed. “No. Just, um, not yet, yeah? I don’t – just not yet.” Zayn squeezes Liam’s arm, then slides both of his hands up to the nape of his neck. “Just lay with me, okay? Just for a little while.”

So, Liam does.

They lay in bed with the sun shining through the window warming their skin as they kiss and giggle and gasp. They lay in bed and their bodies meld and twine while Liam tries to pretend that he doesn’t hear the small murmurs that aren’t meant to be spoken out loud. They lay in bed, Liam trying to fix that screw that’s a little too loose While Zayn’s fingers sporadically dig into his shoulder blades, “I’ll be fine,” falling from his lips, repeating itself, over and over, like a broken record.  

“Shh, it’ll be fine, it’s okay; it’s okay,” Liam mumbles, pulling Zayn impossibly close and kissing him deep and slow like his life depends on it and, in a way, it kind of does. “It’ll be fine. You’re okay. You’re not broken. You’re fine. It’s okay.”

_(“I’m here.”)_

 


End file.
